The Red Wholesaler

Old Wang has been incredibly busy recently. His warehouse is piled high with all kinds of "China Red" products: red lanterns, red couplets, red clothes, red cups, and even red toilet seat covers.

All of this is due to the recent sudden rise in the "China Red" craze. Streets and alleys have been dyed red overnight. People are like they are under a spell, pursuing this color that represents joy and patriotism.

As a shrewd wholesaler, Old Wang certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity to make money. He had stockpiled a large amount of red products early, waiting for this craze to erupt. Indeed, he wasn't disappointed. In just a few days, half of his warehouse was emptied.

Old Wang sat in his office, looking at the constantly jumping order numbers, and couldn't help but smile. He thought this was a truly magical era, where people's obsession with colors could generate such huge economic benefits.

However, amidst the excitement, Old Wang also felt a hint of unease. What was hidden behind this fanatical pursuit? Was it truly an expression of patriotism? Or was it just a well-planned consumerist farce?

Old Wang's wife, Li Mei, seemed to see through his thoughts. That night, Li Mei pointed at the television screen where a young man wearing a red down jacket was singing a patriotic song loudly, and said to Old Wang: "Old Wang, do you think they are truly patriotic? Or do they just love this red clothing?"

Old Wang was silent; he didn't know how to answer. All he could see was crazy consumption, and people, one by one, wrapped in red, expressionless.

To figure out the truth behind this, Old Wang decided to go to the streets himself. He changed into a plain gray coat, put on a hat and mask, and mixed into the bustling crowd.

He found that people were buying red products not out of genuine liking, but more like a blind following of the trend. They just didn't want to make themselves look different, didn't want to be abandoned by the times.

He saw a middle-aged man wearing a red tracksuit, a red hat, and holding a red thermos cup, but his expression was very numb. He was like a robot with a preset program, repeating the same actions, completely losing the ability to think for himself.

Old Wang also saw a young girl, in order to show off her newly bought red bag on social media, braving the cold wind and posing in various exaggerated ways on the street. She didn't seem to care about the bag itself, but only wanted to gain attention and likes from others through it.

The more Old Wang saw, the more alarmed he became. He realized that people had lost themselves and become slaves to consumerism. They treated red as a label, a symbol, but forgot its original meaning.

To further understand this "red craze," Old Wang decided to eat at a red-themed restaurant. The restaurant was red everywhere, even the waiters' clothes and the food were red.

Old Wang ordered a "red set meal," the taste of which was only passable. But he found that most customers didn't seem to care about the taste. They just kept taking pictures, posting on social media, and showing off that they had been there.

Old Wang suddenly felt a little disgusted. He put down his chopsticks and got up to leave the restaurant. He walked to the street, looked at the crowd engulfed in red, and felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

At this moment, he noticed an old man on the roadside, selling handmade lanterns. The old man's lanterns didn't use bright red, but simple yellow and white.

Old Wang walked over and asked the old man: "Old man, why don't you use red paper to make lanterns? Red is the most popular now."

The old man smiled and pointed to the lantern in his hand: "Red is festive, but yellow is also warm. The most important thing in making lanterns is the heart, not the color."

Old Wang was stunned; he felt like someone who had woken up from a dream. He suddenly realized that what he had been chasing was just an illusionary bubble.

Old Wang returned to his warehouse and moved all the red products into the corner. He decided to no longer blindly follow the trend but to do something truly valuable with his heart.

The next day, Old Wang hung a new sign at the door: "Old Wang Wholesale, not selling red, only selling reality."

He knew that his business might plummet. But he felt that he had done the right thing. He was no longer a "red wholesaler," but an ordinary person who had found himself and was no longer bound by consumerism.